zubuttern — German conjugation
to butter
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Regular
Präsens is the default present for facts, habits, and near-future plans. German has no continuous aspect in the same way as English, so a single form often covers both “I work” and “I am working” when you add a time adverb or context.
Ich arbeite heute im Homeoffice.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | buttere zu | I butter |
| du | butterst zu | you butter |
| er/sie/es | buttert zu | he/she/it butters |
| wir | buttern zu | we butter |
| ihr | buttert zu | you (pl.) butter |
| sie/Sie | buttern zu | they butter |
Simple past (Präteritum) Regular
Präteritum is a narrative past, common in print and in northern speech, while southern speakers lean on the perfect in conversation. sein and haben keep their Präteritum even when you otherwise avoid the preterite.
Er war müde, aber er hatte keinen Kaffee mehr.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | butterte zu | I buttered |
| du | buttertest zu | you buttered |
| er/sie/es | butterte zu | he/she/it buttered |
| wir | butterten zu | we buttered |
| ihr | buttertet zu | you (pl.) buttered |
| sie/Sie | butterten zu | they buttered |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Regular
The Perfekt is the everyday past for finished events: auxiliary haben or sein plus participle, with sein for most motion, coming/going, and some change-of-state verbs.
Wir sind rechtzeitig angekommen und haben gefeiert.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | habe zugebuttert | I have buttered |
| du | hast zugebuttert | you have buttered |
| er/sie/es | hat zugebuttert | he/she/it has buttered |
| wir | haben zugebuttert | we have buttered |
| ihr | habt zugebuttert | you (pl.) have buttered |
| sie/Sie | haben zugebuttert | they have buttered |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Regular
The Plusquamperfekt is the pluperfect: it marks what had already completed before a later past episode in the same narrative.
Sie war schon gegangen, bevor er ankam.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | hatte zugebuttert | I had buttered |
| du | hattest zugebuttert | you had buttered |
| er/sie/es | hatte zugebuttert | he/she/it had buttered |
| wir | hatten zugebuttert | we had buttered |
| ihr | hattet zugebuttert | you (pl.) had buttered |
| sie/Sie | hatten zugebuttert | they had buttered |
Future I (Futur I) Regular
Futur I is for predictions, firm promises, and also probability about the present in colloquial German. Everyday speech very often uses Präsens plus a time expression instead.
Morgen schneit es, sagt der Wetterbericht.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde zubuttern | I will butter |
| du | wirst zubuttern | you will butter |
| er/sie/es | wird zubuttern | he/she/it will butter |
| wir | werden zubuttern | we will butter |
| ihr | werdet zubuttern | you (pl.) will butter |
| sie/Sie | werden zubuttern | they will butter |
Future II (Futur II) Regular
Futur II (werden + participle + haben/sein) names an action that will be completed before a later time, and can also express a guess that something must already have happened.
Bis Freitag werde ich alles gepackt haben.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde zugebuttert haben | I will have buttered |
| du | wirst zugebuttert haben | you will have buttered |
| er/sie/es | wird zugebuttert haben | he/she/it will have buttered |
| wir | werden zugebuttert haben | we will have buttered |
| ihr | werdet zugebuttert haben | you (pl.) will have buttered |
| sie/Sie | werden zugebuttert haben | they will have buttered |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Regular
Konjunktiv II is the mood for politeness, contrary-to-fact if-clauses, and reported views. In speech, würde + infinitive often stands in for rarer preterit-based forms.
Könnten Sie mir bitte helfen?
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| ich | butterte zu |
| du | buttertest zu |
| er/sie/es | butterte zu |
| wir | butterten zu |
| ihr | buttertet zu |
| sie/Sie | butterten zu |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Regular
The imperative uses the du, ihr, and Sie forms of command; the informal du form drops the -st of the present for many strong verbs, and separable-prefix verbs place the prefix at the end.
Mach bitte schnell, der Zug fährt gleich ab.
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| du | buttere zu |
| ihr | buttert zu |